Scalise Doesn’t Favor Added Gun Control Measures

“There’s no excuse for using any kind of weapon to try and take the life of an innocent person,” Louisiana Congressman Steve Scalise said, when he appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday. The discussion revolved around his stance on gun control in the aftermath of the Las Vegas mass shooting.

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“The problem is not that there are too many guns. It’s that there are people that will go out and break the law,” the U.S House Majority Whip said, before repeatedly insisting, “The vast majority of gun violence and gun killings in this country are committed by people who broke the law to get the gun.”

Scalise, who was a shooting victim in June, opposes enacting stricter gun laws at this time.

“You know, we’ve got a lot of laws on the books, and one of the things we’ve seen a problem with is that a lot of the gun laws aren’t being enforced. Frankly, let’s go out and enforce those laws. Don’t try to put new laws in place that don’t fix these problems. They only make it harder for law-abiding citizens to own a gun.”

Asked about the professed bi-partisan consensus toward banning the sale of bump stocks like the Vegas shooter used, Scalise said, “There are people that want to rush to judgment. They’ve got a bill written already -- you know, panacea law.”

He mistrusts the efficacy of such a bill, and the motives of those who are pushing it.

“They want to go out and limit the rights of gun owners.”

As for those who suggest there should be monitoring of individuals who stockpile weapons within a short period of time, Scalise rejects that idea.

“I think it’s dangerous for the concept the federal government would have some kind of list of who has guns and what they have. Because you’ve seen that, by the way, in totalitarian countries have used those lists to take guns away from law-abiding citizens.”

Louisiana’s six congressional races feature four incumbents and two open seats, as Congressman Charles Boustany and Congressman John Fleming are running for the U.S. Senate instead. Altogether, there are 39 candidates in the six congressional races. Over the next several weeks, we’ll look at each of those contests, starting today, with the 1st Congressional District.